Heart Attack?
The soldiers ended up deciding to tie up Feng Jin Yuan and bring him to Sha Ping City. As for Yao shi, they immediately went to a casket shop and placed her inside to be brought along.
Ji Ling Tian had been frightened by Feng Jin Yuan’s words. Adding in Yao shi’s death, he also realized that this was truly the end for him, thus he stood there while trembling and waiting for his punishment.
The soldiers did not know what sort of punishment to hand down, thus they simply tied him up too and brought them all to Sha Ping City, including the officer that had actually done the killing.
Feng Jin Yuan could be considered as having a conscience. When Yao shi was placed inside the casket, he personally placed her inside. He even tidied up her hair and straightened out her clothes. Even a doctor had been sought out to take care of the wound on her chest to make it so that it did not bleed the entire time. He then personally closed the lid and kowtowed to it.
These actions were done sincerely, and even the soldiers that were watching let out some sobs.
When they set out, Feng Jin Yuan was tied up once more, and he just walked alongside Yao shi’s casket. The thoughts in his mind were extremely tumultuous, and deep feelings of regret welled up inside him, as tears fell in an endless stream.
How could he have been so foolish back then?! He had tried to cause trouble for Yao shi and Feng Yu Heng a few times, and he ignored any advice that was given. It was as though his eyes had been covered, and not a sliver of the truth could be seen. For someone who had been the dignified top-scoring scholar in the imperial exam, his mind was among the best. How could he have been so foolish when handling his family’s affairs?
Feng Jin Yuan had a strong feeling that he might have been possessed over the past few years; otherwise, how could he have been that stubborn?
But fortunately, aside from Chen Yu, his daughters were all still alive. A-Heng, Xiang Rong and Fen Dai, these girls were all still alive. An shi was also still well. This allowed him to find a bit of hope. He was just a bit worried about Fen Dai’s personality. It was likely that she would someday offend her second sister and try to kill her. Though the fifth prince treated Fen Dai well, the concern was in opposing Feng Yu Heng and Xuan Tian Ming.
Feng Jin Yuan felt a bit anxious, and he really wanted to return to the capital to tell Fen Dai that she absolutely must not cause trouble for her second sister. The Feng family did not have many people left. If you sisters can live well and interact harmoniously, you will still have a good future. Fen Dai was the fifth prince’s future official princess. He could see the earnest feelings of affection that the fifth prince felt for Fen Dai. As long as Fen Dai did not oppose Feng Yu Heng, and as long as Fen Dai could earnestly acknowledge that second sister, even if his Feng family’s male side had perished, the women would still be able to live proud lives. It would not be to the point where he would be unable to feel at peace in the underworld.
That was right, Feng Jin Yuan knew that he did not have long to live. He had courted death, and for him to still be alive could be considered a miracle. Thinking about it now, in the previous months, Feng Yu Heng really had given him face as a father and been very lenient. At the very least, she did not act to kill him herself. As for him, he did not know how to feel grateful. Instead, he felt that he had not courted death enough while in the capital and headed to the South. This time, he could no longer escape. Falling into the ninth prince’s hands, there were all kinds of ways in which he might die. The ninth prince definitely would not be so lenient.
Feng Jin Yuan retracted his gaze from the casket and thought to himself that he would die if he had to die. Yao shi was his first wife. If Yao shi could die in the South, being buried together was also quite good. It could be considered a reunion. If they could meet again in the next life, he would definitely treat her well. He would not marry any other person.
On the way from Ji An Prefecture to Lan Zhou, Feng Yu Heng sat in her carriage. Her eyes had been closed to get some rest; however, an excruciating pain came from her chest. The pain felt as though someone had fiercely stabbed her with a blade. It came suddenly and without any warning. The pain was something that she could not bear, as she immediately fell from her seat and rolled to the floor of the carriage.
This “thunk” sound gave Huang Quan and Wang Chuan a massive fright. Even Ban Zou, who was driving the carriage, immediately stopped the carriage and lifted the curtain to look inside. He immediately saw Feng Yu Heng’s pale-white face and the hand that was clutching at her chest. Without a doubt, something had happened.
The three quickly helped Feng Yu Heng up and placed her back in her seat. Wang Chuan even lowered the seat, hoping to let Feng Yu Heng lie down for a while. Ban Zou urgently asked: “What exactly happened?”
The two servants shook their heads. Nobody knew what had happened. Huang Quan said: “I don’t know why, but young miss suddenly collapsed.” After saying this, she looked at Feng Yu Heng and found that her eyes were tightly shut, and her brow was tightly furrowed. Her expression was very pained, and sweat was dripping from her forehead as if they were beads of water. “Young Miss.” Huang Quan was a bit panicked. While helping wipe away the sweat she gently called to her: “Young Miss, what’s wrong?”
All of a sudden, the pain made it so that Feng Yu Heng could barely even breathe. It was as though the knife that had been stabbed into her chest was suddenly pulled out. That sort of feeling pierced her senses. In a fluster, she felt as though she was about to pass out. Her vision was blurry, and even if she did her best to open her eyes, she still could not see anything.
When it hurt the most, she really was afraid. It was as though her soul was about to be torn cleanly from the body. She even wondered, since the body did not belong to her, and she had been occupying it for so many years, could the body finally be chasing her soul out? If that really was the case, even if she was a divine doctor, she was incapable of doing anything about it. She could only watch herself die once more.
Huang Quan’s voice allowed her to feel the symptoms ease up a little, and she could manage to calm herself down. She did her best to suppress the pain that was no longer as agonizing as it had been earlier. In addition to Ban Zou and Wang Chuan endlessly speaking to her, her body finally began to slowly recover. Her vision became a bit clearer, and she was able to differentiate between the three faces.
Feng Yu Heng took a deep breath and felt restless, as though her home had just been robbed. She subconsciously grabbed something, and without knowing whom she had grabbed, she exerted some strength to try and get up; however, she heard Ban Zou’s voice say: “Don’t get up yet. Just lie down for a while!”
It was only now that she realized that she had grabbed Ban Zou; however, she shook her head: “No, the more I stay down, the more dazed I feel. It would be best if I did not fall asleep and never wake up again.”
Ban Zou hated hearing these sorts of things the most, but he still held her arms and helped prop her up, placing some cushions behind her. “What exactly happened?” He did not understand medicine; however, an idea came to mind: “Could it be that you were poisoned? What sort of person would be so skilled as to be able to do that?”
Wang Chuan, however, shook her head and said: “That’s impossible. We have been extremely careful with our food and living places along the way. Moreover, Young Miss herself is a doctor. It’s impossible that she would not know if she had been poisoned these past few days. If there was such a skilled poison expert, we could not have survived until today. Young Miss also could not have recovered in such a short period of time.”
Feng Yu Heng expressed her agreement to this: “Wang Chuan is correct. It’s impossible for it to have been poison. I just suddenly felt an excruciating pain in my chest. I don’t know why. It was as though someone had stabbed me with a knife then pulled it out. It was unbearable.” While she spoke, she rubbed her chest and found it quite curious: “It’s much better now and no longer hurts.”
The three were very surprised. Wang Chuan suggested resting; however, Feng Yu Heng wanted to continue moving, saying: “If we are going to rest, let’s rest after going a little further. I am fine. Us getting further is more important than anything else. It seems that my problem came from someone else. It’s as though my heart automatically did it. I can’t quite explain it properly. Generally speaking, it would be a heart ailment.”*
Indeed, the three could not understand her; however, Ban Zou agreed with Feng Yu Heng’s words: “Right now, we are in the middle of the road. This is not the place to rest. We can reach a county in half a day’s time. We will rest when we reach that county. We can also get a doctor to take a look at her. Everyone says that doctors cannot treat themselves. You can’t just try to examine and treat your own illness. Just the sound of it is unreliable.” After saying this, he verified with Feng Yu Heng: “Is there really nothing wrong?”
Feng Yu Heng nodded: “It’s fine. Quickly get going. Getting to that county quickly is the most important matter.”
Ban Zou acknowledged this and left. Huang Quan and Wang Chuan, however, were uneasy with leaving Feng Yu Heng sitting in her earlier position, thus they had her sit further in, and the two sat on the outside to block her. This would keep any problems from occurring if the situation from earlier occurred once more.
Feng Yu Heng did not say anything and curled up a bit. She continued to keep her eyes closed to rest, but her mind was turbulent like boiling water.
The pain from the chest, was it from a heart attack? Impossible, she had already performed a full-body examination. She was very healthy, and the body was still so young. The Yao family and the Feng family had no history of heart disease. It was impossible for her to have this sort of illness.
There was a sort of feeling that the earlier pain had come from someone else far away. As for that person… everyone said that a mother’s heart was connected. Could it be that something had happened to Yao shi? Although the feelings between her and Yao shi had already reached an end, Yao shi was still the mother of this body. This body had come from inside Yao shi’s belly. If something had happened to Yao shi, it was not impossible for this body to experience some telepathy.
Feng Yu Heng speculated. Who knew what exactly had happened to Yao shi. Was this matter related to Xuan Tian Ming?
The servants paid attention to her condition, fearing that she would suddenly fall ill once more. But up until they reached the county, Feng Yu Heng was like a normal person. Another medical issue did not seem to occur. It was just that she had been melancholy for the remainder of the trip, and her expression was very ugly. This left the three not daring to ask anything.
The group stayed the night at an inn, and Huang Quan invited a doctor. The doctor examined her for a long time but could not discover anything wrong. In the end, he could only say that it was fatigue from the long journey, and she would be fine with more rest. But Ban Zou and the others were still worried and kept watch over her for the entire night. On the second day, Feng Yu Heng spiritedly told them: “Full speed ahead. When we enter Luo Province’s borders, begin buying supplies!” Only then did the group feel at ease.
In the desert to the South, Feng Jin Yuan’s group passed through the southern border and headed toward Sha Ping City. They only arrived at midnight.
Because it was extremely hot, Yao shi’s rotting corpse gradually began to disperse a rotten smell. As Feng Jin Yuan saw it, that was the smell of death…
*TN: The way heart ailment is written, it could also mean a mental issue.